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Nikki Haley blasts U.N. Human Rights Council as ‘cesspool of political bias’ as U.S. withdraws

Nikki Haley blasts U.N. Human Rights Council as ‘cesspool of political bias’ as U.S. withdraws

The Trump administration has pulled the U.S. out of the United Nations’ main human rights body because of long-standing complaints that the panel is biased against Israel, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Tuesday.

“For too long, [the U.N. Human Rights Council] has been a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias,” Mrs. Haley said. “Regrettably, it is now clear that our call for reform was not heeded.”

The U.S. made the move a day after U.N. officials sharply criticized President Trump’s handling of refugee families at the Mexico border.

The withdrawal is unprecedented in the council’s 12-year history. Libya was ousted seven years ago, but no other country has ever departed voluntarily. U.N. observers said they had seen it coming since the Trump administration’s start.

Last year, during her first address to the council, Mrs. Haley threatened the withdrawal. She cited Washington’s long-standing complaints that the 47-member Geneva-based council was biased against the Jewish state and warned members that the U.S. would leave if the panel failed to end its systematic scrutiny of alleged Israeli rights abuses against Palestinians.

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“It is essential that this council address its chronic anti-Israel bias if it is to have any credibility,” she said.

She noted that resolutions had been passed against Israel but none had been considered for Venezuela, where protesters were being killed amid political turmoil.

During a joint appearance with Mr. Pompeo on Tuesday, Ms. Haley said the United States “would be happy to rejoin” if the council undergoes reform.

Mr. Pompeo ratcheted up the rhetoric by indicating that such a development could be far down the road.

“We have no doubt there was once a noble vision for this council,” he said. “But today we need to be honest. The Human Rights Council is a poor defender of human rights. Worse than that, the Human Rights Council has become an exercise in shameless hypocrisy, with many of the world’s worst human rights abuses going ignored and some of the world’s most serious offenders sitting on the council itself.”

Last week, reports speculated that the failure of frenzied behind-the-scenes negotiations to reform the body would trigger the Trump administration’s move. A major point of contention: Washington’s objection to Israel being the only country in the world whose rights record arose every council session as “Item 7” on the agenda.

Minutes after Tuesday’s announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted his thanks to the U.S.: “Israel thanks President Trump, Secretary Pompeo and Ambassador Haley for their courageous decision against the hypocrisy and the lies of the so-called UN Human Rights Council.”

Some observers noted that the move reinforces the perception that Mr. Trump is seeking to advance Israel’s agenda on the world stage ahead of a long-awaited White House peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, is visiting the Middle East this week as the White House prepares to announce its plan.

Democrats on Capitol Hill slammed the administration for stepping back from another international agreement, after withdrawals from the Paris climate accord, the U.N. educational and cultural organization and the Iran nuclear deal.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Christopher A. Coons, Delaware Democrat, said in a statement that the U.N. Human Rights Council is not perfect but the withdrawal sends a clear message that the administration “does not intend to lead the world when it comes to human rights.”

Rep. Nita M. Lowey, New York, called the move “another isolationist maneuver in its foreign policy strategy that is weakening U.S. global leadership.”

But some leading allies, including the United Kingdom, indicted they were firmly on board.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson joined Washington on Monday in criticizing Item 7 and urging the council to reform. Other European nations and Australia have also sided with the Jewish state, noting that countries with worse human rights records, including Syria, were spared such intense scrutiny.

A key question is where a continued U.S. retreat in the U.N. would leave a beleaguered Israel.

The U.N. Human Rights Council was created in 2006 to replace the U.N. Human Rights Commission, which was widely discredited for electing member states with questionable track records on human rights.

The year it was created, the George W. Bush administration decided against seeking membership. The U.S. joined in 2009 under President Obama.

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It’s about time that we have a President with guts! The Bush Queens, along with the Criminal Clintons and Obama the Communist let the charade with the Human Rights Column go on. Airhead past Presidents. Washington is a cesspool of airheads!

I agree. IMO THIS Was a long time coming. I AM SICK to death of hearing Saudi, or some other mid eastern hell hole, with such a laundry list of human rights abuses, not only being allowed ONTO the UN HRC, but actually LEAD it..
WHAT the zuckerburg.. That’s like asking a bunch of rapists, to lead the UN child trafficing commission…STUPID AS CAN BE!

Thanks for making me remember something really funny. Your use of the word “zuckerburg” for the other word made me think of it.

I had a roommate at school who had had a boyfriend stolen from her by a “friend” named “Phyllis.” After that, whenever my roommate did something that normally calls for saying “excuse me,” she said instead “Phyllis.” Cracked me up every time I heard it!

Agree on that stupid Council. We need to get out of more than that Council, and dump the UN on Europe. Maybe they will eventually be smart enough to dump it on the middle east.

Time to get US out of the UN … and get the UN out of the U.S. The U.N. was originally founded to give Communist countries “leverage” against the rest of the world. Harry Truman was a big proponent of it. Why do you think the U.S. can never get to first base with anything on the Security Council? Take a look at who sits on it: it will explain alot.

I for one, have NO ISSUE with that what so ever. PULL TOTALLY and utterly out of the UN. KICK ALL un facilities out of our country, and HOLD HOSTAGE all country’s “Ambassadors” till they pay up ALL THE unpaid tickets and such, that they owe us.

Pull out of the UN. Blow up the building. Send all their ambassadors back to wherever they came from (often a fate worse than death).

There’s nothing good about the UN. It’s as corrupt as can be. We don’t need to be a part of their corruption.

Further, the UN has never done anything right. Other than the cases where the USA jumped in and carried the lion’s share of the load (like the Korean War), name one time where the UN did any good. Seriously was there ever any instance of the UN, acting without American involvement, being even marginally successful in doing anything? I can’t think of any examples.

This was also on full display with NATO. Remember when Obama attacked Libya and then “led from behind”? He stepped aside and let NATO finish off Libya.

And the 12 or so countries, with all their GPD and all their grand talk, had the hardest time wiping out the ground forces of a 3rd-rate dictatorship. That was AFTER we wiped out their air force. We got in the first punch and NATO couldn’t knock them out.

So what good are they? Bunch of hangers-on and also-ran countries. None of them understands how to win a war.

And this isn’t new either. Remember after WW1 how the French forced the Germans to surrender in humiliation in the back of a railway car? That was 100 years ago. It helped lay the seeds of WW2. They didn’t know how to win a war before the Pax Americana.

A note for Haley — it’s not just UNHRC that is a cesspool, entire Useless Numpties has been like Love-Canalesque from getgo, no surprise given it was constructed from LN’s (Lame Numpties aka League of Nations) wreckage with no fix to what wrecked LN!

The UN is a world stage to amplify the nonsense from all countries other than the USA. In effect it becomes a forum to lend unearned legitimacy to countries that wish to bash the USA and Israel. Seriously, not much else happens there. This is what they are.

Even our “allies” join in on bashing the USA and Israel.
a. One nation under God.
b. One nation set apart by God.

So what good are our “allies” then? What good is the UN? As the tariff drama reveals, we are very short on actual allies. They are lined up to suckle the teat of American generosity. They don’t really like us. They don’t want to like us.

Another problem with the UN is that tin-pot dictatorships are given equal weight to real nations with real elections. Let’s look at Venezuela for example.

The ambassador from Venezuela is there to present the opinion of one man – President Maduro. The will of their people isn’t being represented. But the ambassador from the USA presents the opinion of 300 million Americans. Huge difference, but each country has one vote as if they both hold equal moral relevance.